Brahms sonatas.

Catherine Manoukian recorded the Elgar violin concerto last year, and she showed the listener how she creates a precise and yet emotional character to the Romantic repertoire.

A similar quality is fully evident in her new recording of the three Brahms violin Sonatas: together with her Norwegian accompanist, Gunilla Süssmann, she presents a reading of Brahms whose seemingly restrained surface is barely able to conceal a rich inner emotional world.

We get to hear the following pieces on this CD:

Brahms:

Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3 (complete)

Sonatensatz (Scherzo from the F.A.E. sonata), WoO 2

Performed by Catherine Manoukian (violin) and Gunilla Süssmann (piano)

The titles sometimes given to these sonatas are “Regenlied”, “Thun” and “Symphonic”. These titles reveal how Brahms uses the intimate framework of chamber music, and then he expands this structure, and takes it to the instrument’s technical limits.

Here are audio highlights of this CD:

And next, here are Catherine Manoukian and Stefan Solyom about their Elgar recording: